Second Generations on the Job Market in France: A Persistent Ethnic Penalty
How consistent over time is the ethnic penalty regarding access to the labor market in France? We address this issue considering two cohorts of young people who left school in the last decade of the twentieth century. Our results show that, with educational qualifications kept constant, the penalt...
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| Format: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Langue: | Français |
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2009
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| Accès en ligne: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
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cairn-RFS_495_0045RFS1Revue française de sociologie https://shs.cairn.info/revue-francaise-de-sociologie-1-2008-5-page-45?lang=en https://doi.org/10.3917/rfs.495.0045 Second Generations on the Job Market in France: A Persistent Ethnic Penalty Silberman, RoxaneFournier, Irène2009 fre Revue française de sociologie | 49 | 5 | 2009-01-21 | p. 45-94 | 0035-2969 RFS_49571 How consistent over time is the ethnic penalty regarding access to the labor market in France? We address this issue considering two cohorts of young people who left school in the last decade of the twentieth century. Our results show that, with educational qualifications kept constant, the penalty remains basically the same over the years for young people of North African origin–who were already experiencing difficulties in the 1980s– in spite of relatively favorable labor market conditions and regardless of the ongoing educational expansion. Two other groups were also subjected to a significant penalty: young people of sub-Saharan African origin and, to a lesser degree, young people of Southeast Asian origin. Over this period, while the improvement of economic conditions benefited most degreeholders, high numbers of young people of North African immigrant origin remained stuck in lower educational positions. The group was overtaken by young people of Portuguese origin, who seem to have gained access to higher educational levels through the extension of vocational education to the lower tertiary level. Such facts would seem to support the idea of “statistical discrimination”, a mechanism based on a given group’s average characteristics. However, the boundary line between this and more overtly racist discrimination remains indistinct. In any case, the strong feeling of being discriminated against expressed by young people of North African and black African origins, as well as their pessimistic view of the future, reveals a sharp cleavage within French society–a statement that does not hold, however, for young people of Turkish origin. These pessimistic perceptions may also work to amplify a negative dynamic over the longer term, as shown by longitudinal data available on the second cohort. Our results lead to revisiting the “segmented assimilation” theory as elaborated in the American context, referring to a form of racism specific to American society; i.e., racism against the black population of slave descent.Cairn free access |
| language |
Français |
| format |
Article ou chapitre numérique |
| building |
0/Bibliothèque numérique/ 1/Bibliothèque numérique/Cairn/ |
| description |
How consistent over time is the ethnic penalty regarding access to the labor market in
France? We address this issue considering two cohorts of young people who left school in
the last decade of the twentieth century. Our results show that, with educational qualifications kept constant, the penalty remains basically the same over the years for young people
of North African origin–who were already experiencing difficulties in the 1980s– in spite of
relatively favorable labor market conditions and regardless of the ongoing educational
expansion. Two other groups were also subjected to a significant penalty: young people of
sub-Saharan African origin and, to a lesser degree, young people of Southeast Asian origin.
Over this period, while the improvement of economic conditions benefited most degreeholders, high numbers of young people of North African immigrant origin remained stuck in
lower educational positions. The group was overtaken by young people of Portuguese origin,
who seem to have gained access to higher educational levels through the extension of vocational education to the lower tertiary level. Such facts would seem to support the idea of
“statistical discrimination”, a mechanism based on a given group’s average characteristics.
However, the boundary line between this and more overtly racist discrimination remains
indistinct. In any case, the strong feeling of being discriminated against expressed by young
people of North African and black African origins, as well as their pessimistic view of the
future, reveals a sharp cleavage within French society–a statement that does not hold, however, for young people of Turkish origin. These pessimistic perceptions may also work to
amplify a negative dynamic over the longer term, as shown by longitudinal data available on
the second cohort. Our results lead to revisiting the “segmented assimilation” theory as elaborated in the American context, referring to a form of racism specific to American society;
i.e., racism against the black population of slave descent. |
| author |
Silberman, Roxane Fournier, Irène |
| spellingShingle |
Silberman, Roxane Fournier, Irène Second Generations on the Job Market in France: A Persistent Ethnic Penalty |
| author_facet |
Silberman, Roxane Fournier, Irène |
| author_sort |
Silberman, Roxane |
| title |
Second Generations on the Job Market in France: A Persistent Ethnic Penalty |
| title_short |
Second Generations on the Job Market in France: A Persistent Ethnic Penalty |
| title_full |
Second Generations on the Job Market in France: A Persistent Ethnic Penalty |
| title_fullStr |
Second Generations on the Job Market in France: A Persistent Ethnic Penalty |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Second Generations on the Job Market in France: A Persistent Ethnic Penalty |
| title_sort |
second generations on the job market in france: a persistent ethnic penalty |
| publishDate |
2009 |
| container_title |
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| container_issue |
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| url |
https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://shs.cairn.info/revue-francaise-de-sociologie-1-2008-5-page-45?lang=en https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://doi.org/10.3917/rfs.495.0045 |
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